Camp Southern Ground

Welcome back to Hope for the Caregiver. This is Peter Rozenberger. This is the nation's number one show for the family caregiver. That is my wife Gracie with Russ Taft singing the joy of the Lord. And it is on her new CD, Resilient. Resilient. If you'd like a copy of that, you know what?

It's very easy to do. Hopeforthecaregiver.com. We've got a very special guest on. He is down about, I don't know, about an hour southwest of Atlanta. There's a place called Camp Southern Ground. And I heard about this place a while back and I wanted to reach out to them and just talk with them a little bit about some of the programs they have. And I have Jake Dukes is on the phone. He's vice president of strategic initiative.

And one of the things they do is they have a huge outreach to wounded military and their families and so forth. And I wanted just to talk with him about that. So Jake, you with us? Yeah, Peter, I'm here. Jake, I'm so glad you joined us and, and thank you for being a part of the show. Tell us a little bit about Camp Southern Ground first, and then Luke, I want to get into these initiatives you have for, for the wounded military. Absolutely, my friend. Yeah, it's great to be with you guys.

Thanks so much for having me on here. So Camp Southern Ground is a camp down in Fayetteville, Georgia, started by Grammy award winning artist Zach Brown of the Zach Brown Band. And so Zach spends time in Fayetteville. And about that couple years back, back in 2011, he decided that he wanted to start building his camp. And this actually comes from Zach's passion as a camper himself. He was inspired by his camping experience when he was a kid, learned to play the guitar by chord at camp and was later a camp counselor up in North Georgia, can't listen.

And that just profoundly impacted Zach. And he told his friends and his family that one day he was going to build his own and, and he has a man of his word, and he went and came through and followed through on that vision. And so now we have a camp down in Fayetteville, and we've been operating as a nonprofit since 2011. And, you know, we got about 411 acres out there and we've been running camps for kids as a kids summer camp, and then also veteran programs during the off season for two years now. And it's a great place. You guys got to come check it out. Well, I've read all about it. I'm a long ways away from there right now, because I'm in Southwest Montana.

But I'm right over here now. John is, John is an Eagle Scout, so he's really there. But one of the things that intrigued me was you guys have a special program in the summertime for kids with autism.

That's correct. Yeah, our kids camp is an inclusion camp. And so it's a camp for typical kids and then kids who are on the spectrum or, you know, have any kind of neurodevelopmental disability, that's kind of our specialty over there at the camp.

And we've got a great camp director, Scott Hickok, who builds an incredible experience for children with your kids or kids who have autism can come. We've got inclusion specialists who are who are able to be a part of the camping experience with them and they've got their counselors, but everything's full inclusion. We just we just see how important it is where campers who have differences can come together and all those things can melt away. And they can just spend time being kids celebrating, you know, outdoors together, learning together. And that was a lot of what inspired Zach when he went to camp.

He was able to experience a taste of what the inclusion experience could be and it transformed him and he wanted to create another place like that. And so we really see that in our summer camp experience as an added value. It's actually a step above a typical camping experience where you may have kids who all are of the same background. We really celebrate the fact that we've got diversity of backgrounds. That includes kids who are on the spectrum, maybe kids in lower income areas, underserved areas, or kids who are, you know, have our military families. We have Gold Star, Silver Star and White Star families who who send their children to us to come to camp and all those campers come full scholarship. And so we really love to be able to see the experience of those campers as they come together. The differences, you know, fade away and you see laugh, joy and celebration, you know, as they as they enjoy their summer. Well, one of the things, Jake, for caregivers, particularly with special needs children, is they are terribly afraid to turn loose of their children into an environment where they they're not in control.

You know, the parents are because it's a hard thing to to let go caregivers. We struggle with that. And you guys have this is not unfamiliar to you. You're prepared to bring a safe environment for these folks. You have experts there. You have trained. Everybody's trained.

Everybody knows what's going on. This is not something you just drop your kids off and and pin 20 bucks to their shoulder and say, wish them the best of luck. You know, you've got a you've got a structured program. So because you understand that you're going to have children coming in there with autism and other types of issues.

So you're not unprepared for this. What are some of the things that you would say to parents who are nervous about sending their kid to a camp for the first time because their kid has special needs like this? What are some of the things you would want them to know? Yeah, we we have been designing our camp from the ground up with with these kind of concerns in mind. And just just so you guys know, we started we pulled together a panel of specialists from around the nation who are experts in autism and in neurodevelopmental challenges. And so we have individuals like Ami Klin of Emory University, Kevin Pelphrey.

We have the director of autism speaks and chief science officer also has helped consult with us. And so we've got we've got some great doctors and specialists who have been helping us design what we do from the ground up since the very beginning. This isn't something you know, there's a lot of camps out there that kind of want to bring on these elements, you know, after they get started. And this is this is who we are from the very beginning. So that's what I love.

That's what I love about you guys is it's not something it's not an add on. This is intentional to create an environment for these families who are, you know, justifiably very, very nervous about turning over their kids to a camping experience, but desperately want them to have it and and know that the benefit is there. Let me put a little bit real quick to the military programs you have, because this is another thing when you have wounded military personnel and in and their family members are struggling, trying to help them kind of regain footing after going through the trauma of battle wounds and other things that happen in the course of their military service.

What are some of the things that you guys are doing? Yeah, and it's a real reality. Peter, I appreciate you bringing that up. I mean, you know, the fact is, we've lost more service members to suicide than we have to the war up to this point. And so it's a real challenge. And there are these incredible people who, you know, have seen their loved ones either serve in combat or serve in some other capacity. And and now they're trying to figure out, okay, how can I help this person find out what's next?

How can I help them reengage in a purpose and a mission that is going to be fulfilling for them? And so that's why we designed two programs. Actually, one is a workforce readiness program.

It's called Warrior Week. It's a 12 month program that begins with a week immersive experience at the camp. And, you know, it's a great program for veterans who are looking to find out what's next. We're trying to help veterans identify their strengths, define their purpose and discover their plan and set that plan for what they're going to do after they leave service.

And so this is a great chance to, you know, of course, all that's covered by the camp. There's no cost to veterans from flights to meals to accommodations to curriculum, instruction, everything is covered. And then there's a there's an extensive follow on curriculum that allows veterans to set goals and keep them and really go after the life that they're designed to live and to be this incredible person that they were in service back at home. Well, a lot of caregiving families and I don't just lose the spouse, I'm talking about the family itself is is affected by these wounded men and women. And they are at their wits in sometimes because they see their loved one circling the drain.

They they you're right 22 a day or taking their own lives. And when you got a wife who's watching her husband and we Gracie and I have spent a lot of time with wounded warriors over the years and we've seen this and she's watching her husband just staring listlessly out the out the window or waking up and he's got a loaded 45 in his hand and things such as that. These these families don't know what to do. And I was at Walter Reed one time and I was talking to a guy that lost both of his legs above the knee and he was joking and cutting up with me. Then I asked him rather pointedly I said what's going on at home?

And he said and all of a sudden the jokes left the smiles left the happiness left and he just clouded over and he realized and he shared that his marriage was falling apart. I had another situation with a young man who was wounded horrifically wounded and I was talking to his mother and I said well where's his father and she said he's gone and good riddance. You know families are are being unraveled when you have one wounded individual it can affect a whole bunch of other individuals. What would you like to say to those families who are in that place right now who have that loved one and help point them to give them the courage or the vocabulary to ask for help from camp southern ground. I appreciate that Peter first I'd like to say that any of those families listening tonight first of all you're not alone. There's someone here that we want to help we want to support and you know the the challenges that you face that those of you out there you face them every day and it's difficult for most people to understand what you're going through the war that you're fighting at home and you're fighting it for your loved one and it does sometimes feel like there's nowhere to turn and like the you're at the you know the end of your rope and yet what what I would like to say is that one of the things that we've seen is that it oftentimes takes veterans to help veterans and that's the cornerstone of the warrior path program is that you know we see we've seen traditional therapy and oftentimes there's just not a connection there and so what we've designed is and what we've been participating in as a program called the warrior path and the warrior path is is for veterans designed by veterans. It's built on the philosophy of post-traumatic growth that even though there are very difficult times that veterans see impossible sometimes that there is a way back and there's actually there's a way to find hope through the trauma where you don't have to pretend like it didn't happen you don't sweep it into the rug you don't you know say some chants and everything goes away and talk your problems out away but you you actually reconnect with brothers and sisters who understand what you're going through and then as the veteran you know find a safe place to share those things and then recover in a healthy environment and that's what warrior path at camp southern ground is all about and so for those of you serving at home you are so incredible and we love you your service is valuable and even though it sometimes seems you it seems like you may be invisible you're not we see it and we are stepping in with you to help. That's really what these families need to have they just need a path to safety because they are so lost they are so distraught they don't know what to help that you know they are these men and women are at their peak of training I mean they are the highly disciplined highly goal-oriented and these families are along the ride with it and then all of a sudden with these horrific injuries happen they are lost they are truly lost and don't know where to go and so I'm so grateful for what you guys are doing at camp southern ground tell us a little bit how people can get in touch with you. Yeah Peter I appreciate that it's um real easy just go to camp southern ground dot org and uh our programs are featured prominently so if you just follow the link to each of those programs you'll see that there's an application link right there on the website if you'd like to send me an email if you're saying hey you know what Jake I'm listening right now I need to take action you can email me at jake at camp southern ground dot org I'd be happy to follow up with you we've got an incredible team of veteran uh instructors and staff that are are here and ready to support you and would love to hear from you and so if you're a veteran a post 9 11 veteran and you're going through some of these things or a caregiver and you have a you know a spouse or a family member who's going through some of these things please reach out we'd love to be part of the solution with you. Jake I appreciate this very much Jake Duke he's the vice president of strategic initiatives at camp southern ground camp southern ground dot org you know I don't have people on this show that I haven't dug into and and identified that they can offer some real help so for you family members right now if you got a child with autism you want to have a camp experience with them you know what call these folks if you're a veteran family member and you got a wounded warrior in your family call these people today Jake thanks so much for the time this is hope for the caregiver this is peter rosenberger we'll be right back hi this is jeff foxworthy 65 million americans serve as a caregiver for a sick or disabled loved one if you're one of them then listen to my friend peter rosenberger's show he's got redneck tendencies but he's really good at what he does